Why have one? I was just sitting in my room and leap year came to mind and was wondering what the meaning of having an extra day every 4 years... Who invented it?
2006-09-28 07:50:19 · 2 answers · asked by precious1982 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Why have one? I was just sitting in my boyfriends room and leap year came to mind and was wondering what the meaning of having an extra day every 4 years... Who invented it?
2006-09-28 08:03:50 · update #1
Leap year happens because the Earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun, but instead very close to 365.25 days. Every four years, an extra day is inserted to keep the seasons in position. If we didn't, the seasons would creep backwards through the year. That adjustment is also not perfect, so century years not divisible by 400 are not leap years. Leap years were first instituted by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, and the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria helped him invent it.
2006-09-28 07:53:05 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It wasn't invented. It's because we can't have fractional days. Each year, the earth rotates 365 1/4 times. Leap year is just our way of keeping Winter from creeping up and occurring in July.
2006-09-28 07:54:18 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋